Poll: CA voters support tax hikes to help schools

SAN JOSE, Calif. 
Nearly two-thirds of likely voters in California support Gov. Jerry Brown's recent proposal to increase taxes on the wealthy and raise the statewide sales tax to stave off further budgets cuts to education, according to a poll.

The survey by the Public Policy Institute of California found, however, that voters continue to give low marks to their elected officials and believe the government does not look out for them. That distrust could make it hard for Brown to push through his plan, which he would like to put before voters in November.

Brown's proposal would increase the sales tax by half a cent, to 7.75 percent, for four years and raise taxes on individuals earning more than $250,000 for five years. It would raise about $7 billion a year.

Sixty percent of likely voters said they support the proposal, while 36 percent opposed it, and 4 percent said they don't know.

The poll did not break out support for different aspects of the proposal, and the responses were split predictably along party lines. Seventy-eight percent of registered Democrats favored the plan, compared with 39 percent of registered Republicans.

National polls show strong support for increased taxes on higher earners but far less support for tax increases that would be applied more broadly.

"The governor's plan includes some of the most popular ideas for raising taxes - higher taxes on the wealthy and more money for schools," said Mark Baldassare, the institute's president and CEO. "At the same time, the major challenges in asking Californians to pass state increases are the low approval ratings of state elected officials and high levels of distrust in government."

Brown said through a spokesman he was encouraged by the numbers.

"California still faces damaging budget cuts so it is encouraging that so many citizens are willing to consider some modest temporary tax increases," he said.

But the plan faces competition. Almost immediately after the governor announced his initiative earlier this month, anti-tax advocates filed their own countermeasure seeking to restrain government spending.

Sen. Bob Huff, the Republican vice chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, noted that the last seven statewide tax measures have failed. He said more efforts need to be made to cut spending.

"Once this proposal starts getting the light of truth shone on it, voters will realize we can certainly do a lot better," said Huff, of Diamond Bar. "The real problem is our expenditures are high. And while we've made some cuts, we can certainly do better. There is still a lot of waste, fraud and abuse."

The poll said that among likely voters, 46 percent approve of the job the governor is doing. Only 16 percent of likely voters approve of how the Legislature is doing.

Jobs and the economy remain the top concerns for Californians, and 60 percent of residents say the state faces bad times in the next year.

The poll showed that Californians are worried about automatic spending cuts due to start in January and their effect on public schools. About 85 percent of Californians expressed concern about how those "trigger cuts" would affect K-12 education.